Youth set fire to trains and buses in protest to Agnipath scheme: Government increases upper-age limit to 23 years instead of 21 years for recruitment under Agnipath scheme

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New Delhi: Union Government on Thursday increased the upper-age limit for recruitment for enrolment of soldiers into the three services under the Agnipath scheme to 23 years instead of 21 years for the year 2022.

The Government took the decision amid widespread protests against the new model for enrolment of soldiers into the three services. Unveiling the scheme on Tuesday, the government had said youngsters between the ages of 17and a half and 21 years would be inducted for four year tenure, while 25% of the recruits will be retained for regular service.

According to the defence ministry statement the cognizant of the fact that it has not been possible to undertake the recruitment during the last two years, the government has decided that a one-time waiver shall be granted for the proposed recruitment cycle for 2022. The upper age limit for the recruitment process for Agnipath scheme for 2022 is increased to 23 years.

Trains were set afire, public and police vehicles attacked and personnel injured as protests over Agnipath swept across several states on Thursday amid partisan political voices in favour and against the new recruitment scheme for the defence forces that has set off a firestorm.

From Bihar’s Ara to Haryana’s Palwal, from Agra in Uttar Pradesh to Gwalior and Indore in BJP-ruled Madhya Pradesh, hundreds of young aspirants for jobs in the armed forces took to the streets, pouring their anger on public and private property.Bihar bore the brunt of the violence with trains set ablaze, window panes of buses smashed and passersby, including a ruling BJP MLA, pelted with stones on Thursday, the second day of the protest against the scheme which envisages a short four-year term for soldiers in the three armed forces entailing no gratuity or pension upon retirement.

Police fired teargas shells and used batons to break up protests by angry youngsters who blocked railway tracks, threw burning tyres on roads, and performed push-ups and other drills on the streets against the new recruitment policy. In Nawada, the vehicle of BJP MLA Aruna Devi, who was on her way to a court, was attacked by the agitators, leaving five persons, including the legislator, injured. Railway property was vandalised and protesters set fire to stationary carriages at Bhabhua and Chhapra stations and smashed window panes of coaches at many places.

Five Government vehicles were set on fire by the protesters while stones were thrown at the residence of the Palwal Deputy Commissioner. Protests also took place in Gurugram, Rewari, Charkhi Dadri, Hisar and Rohtak of Haryana.Violent demonstrations were held in Gwalior and Indore in Madhya Pradesh. Protesters hurled stones and set shops on fire near a railway station in Gwalior, affecting train operations.

They also damaged a few shops, officials said, prompting police to baton-charge and fire tear-gas shells. A state run bus was pelted with stones near Agra and hundreds of slogan-shouting youth staged protests in Bulandshahr and Ballia districts of Uttar Pradesh. Protests were also held in Jodhpur, Sikar, Jaipur, Nagaur, Ajmer and Jhunjhunu districts of Rajasthan but no violence was reported.

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